KC-135: 50 years of refueling the fleet

by Staff Sgt. Matthew Bates, Air Force Print News



In an effort to modernize its aging tanker fleet, the Air Force awarded Northrop Grumman a contract to build the KC-45 aerial refueling aircraft in February. The new tanker is set to augment and eventually replace the KC-135 Stratotanker, currently the oldest airframe still in use by the Air Force.

The first KC-135 was delivered to Castle Air Force Base, Calif., in June of 1957 and the last one was delivered to the Air Force in 1965. This makes the average KC-135 nearly 50 years old.

Though loyal to the aircraft, those within the KC-135 community recognize the need to invest in a new tanker, not because the aircraft is not capable, but because of its age.

"It's a great airplane and it's good at what it does," said Col. Peter Nezamis, commander of the Illinois Air National Guard's 126th Air Refueling Wing at Scott AFB. "The fact that it's still flying is a testament to that. But it's old ... real old."

With this advanced age come increased problems. Fuel lines leak, gear struts break, corrosion is rampant and replacement parts are becoming hard to come by. Most of the suppliers have either gone out of business or have gone on to build parts for newer aircraft.

"The parts for this aircraft are dwindling and becoming more and more costly to procure," Colonel Nezamis said. "And when we can't procure them, we have to manufacture them ourselves."

The aircraft themselves are on a set schedule that determines when they are sent to the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center at Tinker AFB for a complete overhaul. The tankers receive new paint and any other identified repairs, which include replacing the boom "rudderevator," horizontal stabilizer terminal fittings and fuel bladders.

"Nobody envisioned that this aircraft would be around for so long," said Gaddis Gann, chief engineer at the center. "The KC-135 was designed and built in the 1950s era of 'throw-away' aircraft. Durability was not a major concern, and manufacturers adopted assembly techniques, such as lapping two pieces of metal without sealant, that made the aircraft corrosion prone."

These overhauls at Tinker AFB are becoming more important by the day. Workers at the ALC have to keep the KC-135 in operation for at least another 30 years.

"We're starting to see things break now that typically don't or haven't before," Mr. Gann said.

Even the inspection process has increased, as pilots and maintainers now check items that were unnecessary to check during the airplane's youth.

"When I started flying the KC-135 in the early 80s, our inspections were maybe one page long," said Col. Jeffery Glass, commander of the 507th ARW at Tinker AFB. "Now, we have five pages of inspections that have to be done on the airplane because of its increased age."

The KC-135's mission for more than 50 years is to provide the core aerial refueling capability for the Air Force and to ensure the accomplishment of its primary missions of Global Reach and Global Power.

Still, because of required maintenance due to the aircraft's age, the KC-135 is becoming less and less available to the fleet.

"You have to look at reliability rates as one thing, but then you have to look at the rates of availability for the airplane," Colonel Glass said. "And that keeps dropping."

At the 507th ARW alone, the wing only has five or six of its 12 KC-135s available to fly on any given day due to scheduled and unscheduled maintenance.

The aircraft was designed primarily to be an aerial refueler. Today, though, the Stratotanker is seeing increased use as a cargo hauler and is flying numerous missions in support of operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

All of this also is combining to place additional stress on the airplane.

"We're pushing an airplane that's made of metal and is fatigued and old, and getting older, and things just start breaking down," Colonel Glass said. "The KC-135 has done its job and it has done it well. But anytime you get to the point where you have a 50-year-old airplane, you don't know what's going to break next."

This, he added, is one reason the KC-45 is a necessary addition to the tanker fleet.

"Without a follow-on tanker for the KC-135, if something happens where the KC-135 has to be grounded, we can't fight a war," he said. "If we don't have refuelers, we can't keep our planes in the air."

This is a fact Air Force officials recognized when deciding to introduce a new tanker.

"Recapitalization of our Air Force's jet tanker inventory is long overdue," said Gen. Duncan McNabb, Air Force vice chief of staff. "Air refuelers are a single point of failure in modern military operations. Across the spectrum of what we do, we absolutely rely on the capabilities they give to us."

The KC-135 is anticipated to stay in the fleet until 2040, and the KC-45 is expected to join the Air Force in 2013.

Tanker contract award announced

WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne and Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Duncan J. McNabb announced the selection of Northrop Grumman as the winner of the KC-X competition for development and procurement of up to 179 tanker aircraft for approximately $35 billion.

The initial contract for the newly named KC-45 is for the system design and development of four test aircraft for $1.5 billion. This contract also includes five production options targeted for 64 aircraft at $10.6 billion.

"The tanker is the number one procurement priority for us right now," General McNabb said. "Buying the new KC-45A is a major step forward and another demonstration of our commitment to recapitalizing our Eisenhower-era inventory of these critical national assets. Today is not just important for the Air Force, however. It's important for the entire joint military team, and important for our coalition partners as well. The KC-45A will revolutionize our ability to employ tankers and will ensure the Air Force's future ability to provide our nation with truly Global Vigilance, Reach, and Power.

"It is the first step in our critical commitment to recapitalize our aging fleet to move, supply and position assets anywhere. In this global Air Force business, the critical element for air bridge, global Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and global strike is the tanker," he said.

The KC-45A will provide significantly greater air refueling capabilities than the current fleet of Eisenhower-era KC-135 Stratotankers it will begin replacing. For example, it will be able to refuel Air Force and Navy aircraft on every flight. These aircraft have different systems for receiving fuel and today, KC-135s must be set up for one or the other before takeoff.

The KC-45A will be equipped for both systems on every flight and also will have connections for wing pods. When wing pods are installed, it can refuel two probe-equipped aircraft, such as those flown by Navy and many allied aircrews, at the same time. The KC-45A can even be refueled in flight by other tankers.

The KC-45A also will have defensive systems that allow it to go into dangerous environments that tanker aircrews currently have to avoid. It will also supplement the airlift fleet by carrying cargo, passengers and medical patients in a secondary role.

The KC-X source selection used a "best value" determination to select a winner based on five factors: mission capability, proposal risk, past performance, cost/price and an integrated fleet air refueling assessment -- performance in a simulated war scenario. These five factors were developed after consulting with industry and were finalized prior to starting the competition. Considered together, these grading criteria ensured the Air Force maximized the capability delivered to the warfighter while optimizing the taxpayers' investment.

Air Force officials followed a carefully structured process, designed to provide transparency, maintain integrity and promote fair competition. Air Force officials met with offerors on numerous occasions to gain a thorough understanding of their proposals and provide feedback on their strengths and weaknesses. Officials also provided insight into government cost estimates throughout the process instead of waiting until the post-decision debrief. The competitors indicated they've been very pleased with the degree of communication.

The evaluation team comprised experts covering a broad spectrum of specialties from acquisition to operations and was hand-picked from across the Air Force and other government agencies.

As part of the process, Air Force officials will now provide a written notice to both the selected and not-selected and offer to provide a debrief on their bid proposals. To maintain the integrity of that process, officials will be unable to provide additional information about the proposals and contract.

"Today's announcement is the culmination of years of tireless work and attention to detail by our acquisition professionals and source selection team, who have been committed to maintaining integrity, providing transparency and promoting a fair competition for this critical aircraft program," Secretary Wynne said. "Through these efforts, we believe we will provide a higher-value resource to the warfighter and the taxpayer."